When most of us think of Christmas caroling, scenes of Dickensian street orphans singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing” in cockney accents for tuppence from the upper class or of well-dressed, top-hatted men and bonneted women singing “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” and good-naturedly begging for figgy pudding often come to mind. (OK, maybe just to my mind.)

But in reality, my experiences with caroling have been a lot less picturesque.

SUPPLY—One meet into the high school swim season, South Brunswick has already qualified swimmers for 11 events in the Class 3A regional.

The Cougars competed against Clinton in a Saturday morning dual at the Dinah E. Gore Fitness and Aquatics Center. (Lumberton and Swansboro also competed in the eight-lane short-course pool.) South’s boys won 168-57 and South’s girls won 118-78.

Calabash's Christmas tree lighting Dec. 4 was a life-size rendition of the cozy ceramic villages sold at Callahan's, the local store where the annual event took place.

As holiday music played, townspeople gathered outside the gift shop to await the golf cart parade, which proceeded down Beach Drive and River Road to the delight of children and adults gathered on the sidewalk.

Folks lined up for free popcorn from an old-timey vendor. There also were hot dogs, coffee and cocoa.

Since January, Brunswick County Realtors have sold 858 site-built houses and townhomes and 316 condominiums and manufactured/modular homes. That is down from 947 and 413 in 2008, according to statistics from the Brunswick County Association of Realtors.

An additional 131 sales are now pending, and local agents say that’s a harbinger of good news for the market’s future.

Bonnie Black, broker-in-charge at Re/Max at the Beach’s Calabash office, went as far as to say the county’s housing market has taken a turn for the better.